Front and back sight for a bow



13, 1970 A. L. ALTIER 3.488353 FRONT AND BACK SIGHT FOR A BOW 4Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 10, 1967 ANTHONY L. ALTIER INVENTOR.

BY xi? 3 ATTORNEY Jan. 13, 1970 A. L. ALTIER 3,488,353

FRONT AND BACK SIGHT FOR A BOW Filed March 10, 1967 4 Sheets-Sheet 2ANTHONY L LTIER IN VENTOR.

ATTORNEY Jan; 13, 1970 A. L. ALTIER 3,488,853

i RONT AND BACK SIGHT FOR A BOW Filed March 10, 1967 4 Sheets-Sheet 5ANTHONY L. ALTIER INVENTOR ATTORNEY Jan. 13, 1970 A; ALTIER FRONT ANDBACK SIGHT FOR A BOW 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed March 10, 1967 FIG. 6

ANTHONY L.ALTIER INVENTOR.

BY W

ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,488,853 FRONT AND BACK SIGHT FOR A BOWAnthony L. Altier, 828 Maple Ave., Honesdale, Pa. 18431 Filed Mar. 10,1967, Ser. No. 622,363 Int. Cl. Gtllc 15/12, 15/00 US. Cl. 33-46 6Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A front and back sight is provided fora bow, which may be mounted either at the face or at the back of thebow. The sight includes a curved slide bar fastened to the bow by acombination mounting screw at one end which also provides anchor pointadjustment, and a pivot hinge at the other end. An elongated horizontalbar is disposed to move vertically up and down along the slide bar. Thishorizontal bar acts as a sight span and has a front sight and back peepand means for lateral and longitudinal adjustment.

The present invention relates to a front and back sight arrangement forarchery and more particularly to a front and back sight arrangementwhich can be readily mounted on commercially sold bows. This sightarrangement can be mounted either at the face side or the back side ofthe bow.

By having both a front and a back sight the archer acquires a distinctsight picture when shooting. This sight picture actually makes thearcher maintain constant form. By maintaining constant form, i.e., headposition, anchor point, hand position, etc. the archer continuallyshoots accurately. A change in the sight picture can only be noticedwhen a front and back sight is used. This enables the archer to correcthis form before release of the arrow. This will give him the accuracywhich this sight is designed to provide. If the archer grips the bow tootightly, or twists the hand slightly, accidentally anchors wrong, ormoves his head slightly, the sight picture will change. With a front andback sight, the archer can see his mistake and correct it beforeshooting.

Although it has long been recognized that a front and back sight ishighly desirable such an arrangement has not been provided heretofore.

According to the present invention, a slide bar is vertically disposedjust above the arrow rest. The slide bar is curved to a specific slightdegree of curvature. Mounting means are provided at the ends of theslide bar to anchor the slide bar to the bow. Slidably engaging theslide bar and moving up and down along the slide bar is a sight spanbracket attached to a slide boxwhich is designed to hold a sight span.The sight span is an elongated piece disposed at right angles totheslide bar and held by the sight span bracket. At the front end of thesight span is a front sight which is merely a short vertical upstandingbar or pin and at the rear end of the sight span is the rear peep orsight which is usually a hollow cylinder or a V-shaped object ifdesired. The slide bar is mounted to the bow by means of a combinationscrew at one end and a tightenable pivoted hinge at the other end. Thesight span and its sight span bracket are mounted on the slide bar bymeans of set screws and a spring arrangement attached to a slide box.

The invention as well as other objects and advantages thereof willappear more clearly from the following detailed description when takentogether with the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an archer using the sight of the presentinvention when shooting at a target;

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FIG. 2 shows the sight contemplated herein mounted on the back of thebow;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of the sight contemplated herein;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 3 showing the sight mounted on the faceof the bow; and,

FIG. 6 is a view of a bow with sight mounted as shown in FIG. 5.

Referring now to the drawings, in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 there is shown acurved slide bar 10 mounted on the back 12 of a conventional recurve bow14 using a combination mounting screw 16 and hinge 18. The purpose ofcombination mounting screw 16 will be explained at greater lengthherein. A mounting slide box 20 is slidably attached to slide bar 10 anddisposed for up and down vertical movement along the slide bar. When thearcher looks at the mounting bar from behind the bow, he sees a curvedflat surface. The radius of curvature of bar 10 is approximately two tothree feet, as shown in the table provided later herein. That is to say,the archers eye acts as the center of curvature of the slide bar,depending on his draw length. Horizontally disposed on the slide box 20is a sight element span 22 having front and back sight 24, 26. Frontsight 24 will appear as a dot in a bulls eye which is defined by backsight 26 consisting of a hollow cylinder or a V-shaped object ifdesired.

New mounting screw 16 which is used to attach the upper portion of theslide bar in this particular case to the bow has woodscrew threads onone end adapted to penetrate and engage the bow and adjustment machinethreads at the rear thereof on which two adjustment nuts 28 and 30 aredisposed one on each side of an aperture 32 formed in the slide bar. Theimportance of this arrangement will be more apparent shortly. At theother end the slide bar is twisted at right angles to form a neck 32which is used to fasten the slide bar with a tightenable hinge 18 bymeans of a bolt 34 and a bolt 36 which prevents twisting of slide bar10. Hinge 18 in turn will be fastened, in this instance, to the back ofthe bow by means of screws 38, 40.

New slide box 20 has a U-shaped cross-section, the arms of the U beingdisposed to slide along the side of slide bar 10. Across the face 42 ofslide bar 10 nearest the archer a strip of paper or tape 44 for markingyardage relative to the bow used can be disposed as shown in FIG. 4. Onthe face of the slide box 20 is an aperture 46 and as the slide box 20slides up and down the slide bar the tape 44 is visible through aperture46. In this way it is possible for the archer to mark the tape withpencil, pen, or crayon and he can adjust his sight for varied distanceand visibly see the adjustment when moving the slide box as the markwill appear through the aperture 46, Interposed between the slide box 20and the slide bar 10 is a spring 48 curved so that the curve shall pressagainst the slide bar, and in conjunction with screws 60, 62 serve tohold slide box 20 adjustably against the curved slide bar 10 so as tofollow the curvature of the slide bar and make possible the alignment ofthe line of vision through the front and back sights using the archerseye as the pivoting point. As will be shown herein, the curvature ofslide bar 10 is bent to a radius of curvature which is a function of thearchers draw normal or anchor point. Disposed along the side of slidebox 20 is a sight span bracket 54 consisting of a horizontal element 56and a depending wing 58. Sight span bracket 54 and spring 48 are held inplace in the slide box 20 by means of screws 60, 62 which pass throughthe sight span bracket wing 58 into the slide box 20 with screw 60passing over convex center of spring 48. Screws 60, 62 are insertedthrough wing 58 into tapped threads of slide box 20 and are positionedto the individual archers adjustment and held secure. They are held inplace by means of jam nuts 64 and 66, there being two nuts for eachscrew. Jam nut 64 acts as the forward nut and 66 as the rear nut. Withthis arrangement the slide box 20 can slide with constraight along themounting bar. To set the slide box and prevent motion temporarily, whenshooting at a fixed distance a set screw 68 is provided. The sight span22 is mounted on its support by means of screws 70, 72 enteringcorresponding threaded apertures 74, 76 in the bracket 54. To retain thesight span firmly, washers 78, 80 are provided on screws 70, 72. Byremoving screws 70, 72 sight span 22 can be removed and different sightspans 23 substituted. These may be made available in 6, 9 and 12 inchlengths, with small medium and standard peeps, or any lengths or typeV-back sights as desired.

The sight arrangement just described and mounted on the back 12 of how14 can also be used where the mounting has to be made on the face of thebow as shown in FIG. and FIG. 6. In this arrangement, the neck 32 isplaced towards the top and the combination mounting screw 16 towards thebottom. Tightenable swival action hinge 18 is pivoted 180 to theposition in FIG. 5. In this arrangement the curved surface of the slidebar again faces the archer, the sight span and slide bar is nearer tothe archer, and the sighting arrangement works in exactly the same wayas when mounted on the back of the bow. In fact the only differencebetween in the area of his cheek or chin depending on choice), suchpositioning required for consistancy in accuracy being necessary whetherusing a sight or shooting instinctively. The front and back sighteliminates the guess Work of such positioning. The longer the sight spanand the smaller diameter of the peep or back sight, the more precise thepositioning of this anchor point will be.

The up and down adjustment of slide box 20 accomplishes range adjustmentnecessary for varied distance when shooting. When the slide bov 20position is high on slide bar 10 (such height being determined byarchers style of shooting and lowness of his desired anchor point), thearrow is aimed for close distance shooting. By lowering slide box 20 anamount determined by trial and error, e.g., weight of bow and arrowsused by the individual; this automatically brings the bow hand up,necessary to produce the arc of the arrow flight to be able to hit adesired target further away. This too, is a trial and error adjustmentcommonly known to sight shooters.

Tape 44 is provided for proper marking relative to distance shooting andamount of elevation of bow, necessary for arc of arrow flight to hit adesired target.

With regard to the exact radius bars for the archers draw length whenmounted on the face of the bow and when mounting on the back of bow,five different bar radiuses are required. These are shown in thefollowing table, all dimensions being in inches.

TABLE Slide Bar Radius Archers Back Mount Draw Lengths mounting thesight arrangement on the face of the bow instead of the back of the bowis the up-side-down positioning of the slide bar, plus the necessity fora different radius bar as indicated later in the table provided hereinrelative to the archers draw length. Consequently the combinationmounting screw 16 providing anchor point adjustment also has to bereversed as can be seen by comparing FIG. 3 and FIG. 6.

The arrangement just described can also be used for left handed archersby removing sight span bracket 54 and screws 60 and 62 and insertingthese in the opposite side of slide box 20. This requires a completeremoval of the sight span bracket and inserting from the opposite side,however, when ordering the sight arrangement, if the archer specifiesthat he is left handed the reversal of parts can best be done at thefactory which can stock a certain amount of sight arrangements for lefthanded archers, thus saving valuable time dismantling the sightarrangement.

The details of initially setting up and adjusting the sight will now bedescribed with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. As will be readily apparentto those skilled in the art, this explanation also applies to FIGS. 5and 6 and to left handed archers with obvious modifications. Turningscrews 60 and 62 inwardly together results in arrow grouping moving tothe left. Turning there screws outwards puts arrow groups to the right,until dead center accuracy is obtained by these adjustments. This isreversed for left handed persons. Turning one screw in farther than theother gives canter or in and out action to either iront sight or backpeep to line up to the archers style of shooting. Jam nuts 66 and 64 areprovided for permanent setting once adjusted to the individuals likes.

A key feature of the sight arrangement is combination mounting screw 16which accomplishes not only the mounting of slide bar 10 but alsoprovides in and out adjustment of the slide bar. Wood screw threads ofbolt 16 are coarse adjustments. Machine threads are found it the back ofmounting screw 16. These are fine adjustments. This adjustment makespossible constant anchor point positioning (the point where every archerdraws .llS string before releasing the arrow, such positioning a gindividu cho c h th r ncho ing h g or low Furthermore, the arrangementof hinge 18 prevents twisting of slide bar 10 as would not be possiblewith two wood-screws one at each end of slide bar 10. This is why thismount is provided. Thus, two wood screws at each end of the slide barinstead of a tightenable swivel action could be used to mount a sight,but the possibility of twisting slide bar 10 would be present, throughplay found in the threaded action of nuts and screws.

Also, the sight span 22 is moveable forward or backward in sight spanbracket 54 but may be secured in position by adjustment of screws 70 and72.

The following explanation is given as to how to mount the sightarrangement described herein on a bow.

Example of mounting Step 1.Attachment of swivel action bracket 18. Thisbracket is secured by two wood screws 32, 40. Drill two holes inch deepat bottom area of bow sight window, using a ,5 inch diameter drilldrilling at the spot previously marked with a pencil through the twowood screw holes found in this bracket. Drill the same holes again,using a inch drill, making certain to go only through the fiberglass andno deeper. This is to allow room for the gripping portion of the threadsin the wood screws to pass through fiberglass without cracking theglass. Make certain this is mounted in the area above the sight windowor in a spot having at least inch thickness in wood and lamination, toprevent damage to working action of the bow limbs and possibly of screwsprotruding out the opposite side of bow.

Step 2.-With concave slide bar attached to top swival action bracket,line up the slide bar to make certain that this slide bar is runningparallel with bow string. If slide bar is too long, it may be cut offwith a hack saw at desired length and drilled with a inch drill. If cutoff is performed, be careful to clamp only the portion discarded in viseso as not to change precision setting of the concave slide bar. Do notattempt to put a slight bend at the end of the slide bar to prevent thepossibility of changing setting, but insert combination screw 16 atslight downward angle to compensate for this. Drill inch hole 1 /2inches deep in area of bow along side sight window, drilling throughhole 32 found in slide bar, but make certain the slide bar is held atone inch away from bow at time of drilling. A inch hole found in slidebar will position archer properly for this step. Now drill inch holethrough fiberglass only, no deeper, to prevent cracking of glass asmentioned above.)

Step 3.-'Insert combination wood and machine screw 16 inch in bow atfirst. Try to shoot using your normal anchor point. If anchor point istoo low, turn combination screw in farther and so on until properposition is found. (High anchor point requires far in position-lowanchor point farout position.) Machine threads are fine adjustments,wood threads are coarse adjustments. 7

Step 4.-Archer is now ready to start sighting in, once proper anchorpoint is found. Loosen all inch nuts 64, 66 found on two screws holdingsight span bracket. (Bracket holding front sight and back peep.)Screwing this bracket in brings groups of arrows to your left. Screwingout puts arrow groups to right, for a right handed person, (use reversefor left handed person). Turn each screw 60, 62 only one turn at a time,to prevent bending of bracket. Screwing one in or out farther than theother gives canter to front sight or back peep, to line up. to archersstyle of shooting. Once adjusted, tighten all nuts and startshooting.Properly matched arrows and a little time. Greater accuracy can beobtained with finer peeps practice will give tremendous accuracy in avery short and longer sight spans such as 23.

It is to' be observed therefore that the present invention provides fora sight arrangement which could be mounted on any style bow. The frontsight and back peep, line up perfectly with the archers eye, onceadjusted to his style shooting. The archer can maintain the sightpicture for close shooting or lower slide box 20 and the sight spanwhich moves therewith to obtain elevation for distant shooting. Thisprecise alignment is made possible by the precision concave slide bar ofthe sight. Thus, the slide box and the sight span will follow thearchers line of vision relative to the target. The archers eye acts as apivot point for front and back sight. A set screw 68 is provided forprecise desired range setting and a convenient window with centeringlines is provided for extremely accurate setting and yardage markings.The arrangement described has vertical adjustment, horizontaladjustment, with interchangeable sight spans which can be anywhere from6 to 12 inches in length from sight and back peep, or longer if sodesired. It has a degree canter adjustment to either the front sight orback peep necessary for proper sighting, and a precise anchor pointadjustment provides constant positioning by means of combinationmounting screw 16. Anchor point positioning is determined through theuse of sight picture. It is adaptable to left or right hand shooting.

I claim:

1. A sight arrangement for mounting on a bow, comprising in combination,

a curved elongated slide bar having a flat surface, the radius ofcurvature being of the order of two feet and having a neck at one endthereof formed at right angles to the fiat surface, said neck having aflat face portion;

a hinge bracket having a flat face mounted on said neck and inface-to-face contact with said fiat face portion of said neck, meanspassing through said hinge bracket flat face and the flat face portionof said neck for tightening and clamping said hinge fiat face and thefiat face portion of said neck thereby preventing relative movementtherebetween,.means for rigidly fastening the hinge bracket to the bowand tightenable mounting screw means at the other end of said slide bar'and passing through the flat sur face thereof and'anchored into the bowincluding adjustment means for adjustably fixing the position of saidother end of the slide bar relative to the bow, whereby said slide baris rigidly mounted on said bow and is prevented from movement in anydirection with respect to said bow;

a slide box for sliding engagement on said slide bar, said slide boxincluding spring means for resiliently holding said slide box on theslide bar and a set screw for fastening said slide box at any selectedposition along said slide bar;

a. bracket attached to one side of said slide box and an elongated sightspan having an upstanding point at one end and a framing aperture at theother end, means mounting said span on said bracket at right angles tosaid slide bar for forward and rearward adjustment, and lateraladjustment means on said bracket for moving said span laterally inwardor outward with respect to said slide box.

2. A sight arrangement as claimed in claim 1 said mounting screw meanscomprising a bolt with wood screw threads at one end and machine screwthreads at the other, and nut means for adjustment disposed on themachine screw threads.

3. A sight arrangement as defined in claim 1 including an indiciareceiving face on the inner side of the curved slide bar for markingrange distances thereon.

4. A sight arrangement as defined in claim 3, and further including aregistration Window on one face of said slide box through which theindicia receiving face of said slide 'bar is visible.

5. A sight arrangement as defined in claim 1, wherein said lateraladjustment means comprises a pair of spaced horizontally disposedadjustment bolts fixed to said bracket and threadedly received by saidslide box, each adjustment bolt being separately adjustable toselectively cant said sight span with respect to said slide box.

6. A sight arrangement as defined in claim 1, wherein said upstandingpoint is formed as an upward bend of one end of the sight span, and saidaperture is a cylindrical peep sight.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,163,503 6/1939 Tate.

3,058,221 10/1962 McNeel.

3,163,697 12/ 1964 White 33-464 3,302,292 2/1967 Akin 3346.4

LEONARD FORMAN, Primary Examiner STEVEN L. STEPHAN, Assistant ExaminerU.S. Cl. X.R. 124-24

